Fairy cakes and other ideas (Baking)

Member Name: takeachance

Product:	Baking
Date:	15/02/09 (375 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: keep the children amused, easy to make, few ingredients

Disadvantages: with the children helping youll not have a chance to lick the bowl!

In a bid to ensure the children arent bored this school holiday and dont spend all day in front of the google box Im planning ahead to ensure that we have lots to do together.
These fairy cakes are easy to make and my daughter loves to help.
Her favourite part is licking the bowl but we also have fun decorating them!

To make 12 cakes you will need:

4oz self raising flour
4oz caster sugar
4ox soft margarine
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence.

(TO make these into chocolate fairy cakes add 4oz cocoa butter with the other dry ingredients)

A 12 hole bun tray
paper cake cases

Pre heat the oven to gas mark 5.
Place a cake case in each hole in the bun tray ready.

Sift the flour into a large bowl.
Add the sugar, margarine and vanilla.
Break the eggs and add them too.
Keep mixing until everything is smooth and creamy. (Little ones will need help with this as it does take some minutes)
Divide the mixture equally into the cases.
Bake for 15 minutes. Cakes should be golden and firm.
Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Whilst the cakes are baking is a good time to prepare some toppings.
Obviously everyones favourite is icing made with icing sugar and warm water. Mix to make a smooth paste. Adding a drop of food dye will obviously enable you to tailor make these for any occasion!

Decorate with sugar strands, sugar flowers, sugar balls etc .. all easily available in your local supermarket.

Alternatively a cheaper option is to use some lemon, orange or lime zest to decorate the icing.
Perhaps you could use two different colours of icing to make patterns.
Or perhaps use some chocolate spread, lemon curd or jam or whatever you have in your cupboards really!

My daughters favourite at the moment is to make them into butterfly cakes with buttercream.
To make the buttercream mix 1 1/2 oz butter with 3 oz icing sugar.
Using a pointed knife cut out a circle from the top of each cake.Cut the circle in half to make two 'wings'.
Spread some buttercream onto the hole on each cake that you have just made and push the two 'wings' into the cream.
Dust with icing sugar.

Happy Baking and enjoy the holidays!

Summary: More ideas for the half term